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Switching to Ebb n Flow, NEED HELP!

samba

samba

Active member
So, I'm thinking of switching over to EnF because of its simplicity and low maintenance. I have a 4'x8' tent with 3x600W HPS. I'm thinking of having two 3'4"x3'4" tables in it with 3x3 plant in each.

Is 26 gallon table big enough for 9 plant that have to cover 4'x4'?
The table is only 5" high, is that OK?
Is a 24 gallon reservoir per table big enough? Can't get bigger ones. How often do you think I'd have to go over and fill it up?

What size veg area should I have? Thinking of vegging in 4"x4" net pots.

Thanks!
 
Medium Pimpin'

Medium Pimpin'

Ask Beavis, I Get Nothing Butt Head
Veteran
3 gallons of water per ft2 of space.
your pretty close to 30 gallons needed for a res.

i recently did a 20 gallon res for a 2'x4' table and it was a PITA!
i couldnt flood as high as i wanted to.
not to mention i had to top off about 1-2 gallons a day once they drank heavy.
if i didn't top off the res, the pump would run dry and suck air instead of water.
which will eventually kill the pump.

so the bigger the res, the better imo.
 
9

9240GrnMachine

Member
he is right! minimum for a 3.5x3.5 should be 40 gallons for ebb and flow.. until
the roots grow down, you will need to flood a bit higher.. as the roots grow down, not as high... unless you want to do more work ie. topping off resevoirs every few days... the bigger the res, the less work.
 
samba

samba

Active member
That doesn't sound to good...
I did a with test were I filled a container hydroton and then filled it with water, then poured the water to a identical container and it was half full, so I was thinking you only need half the volume of water to fill the table full of hydroton. I'm i wrong?
I could do a top up system for the rez with the pump to flood the tables, so that when the level in the rez that floods the table lowers its topped up and using the same size rez to top up the main rez I would kind of double the rez size?
Would this work?
 
D

dtfsux

Member
Put two reses together. Link them together at the bottom with hose, and have the pump "T"eed so it pumps into the table and the second res. This will keep everything mixed and balanced and give you the extra capacity you need.


Or build a res from wood and pond liner


the problem with using a top off system is how is it going to know when the rez is low? Every time the table fills, the res will run dry. You do not want it getting topped off when the table is full
 
W

what the

Member
dtfsux said:
the problem with using a top off system is how is it going to know when the rez is low? Every time the table fills, the res will run dry. You do not want it getting topped off when the table is full
Click to expand...
Like he wrote, it's a little more complicated than it sounds. My rule of thumb for E&F is to equal the res size to the total volume of the table. Yes, you only need about half to fill the table with hydroton, but you need to account for uptake. The larger res will be much more stable.

BTW there is no difference in flood heights for E&F throughout the grow. Not that I've ever seen anyway, probably someone. You will use MORE water during the grow. It seems 9240 thought your post was something about DWC.
 
joedub

joedub

Member
I think the difference in height needed for your flood has to do w/ how you have your plants set up. If you have them resting on the tray, you don't need much water to saturate them. If you have a tray w/ net cups hanging in the air then you'd definitely should go w/ the bigger reservoirs to be able to fill your tray, you'll also gain stability like other poster mentioned.
 
9

9240GrnMachine

Member
what the.... their is no reason to keep flooding to the top of your tray, if your roots are at the bottom... waste! let them uptake!
and i dont know why you are using more water during veg. or do you mean you are filling it up more due to your roots being higher up in your medium... ALL of my plants use more water during flowering and i drop it down to about a 2 inch flood, with rock wool sitting on the trays....
 
W

what the

Member
9240GrnMachine said:
what the.... their is no reason to keep flooding to the top of your tray, if your roots are at the bottom... waste! let them uptake!
and i dont know why you are using more water during veg. or do you mean you are filling it up more due to your roots being higher up in your medium... ALL of my plants use more water during flowering and i drop it down to about a 2 inch flood, with rock wool sitting on the trays....
Click to expand...

My bad, he hadn't yet wrote it was hydroton when you posted. In rockwool, yeah, I don't know, never ran E&F rockwool.

In my hydroton E&F buckets/tables I have a LOT of roots at the top. They spread out close to horizontal about an inch deep.
 
D

dtfsux

Member
You should flood to the top of roots regardless if you have a root mass at the bottom. Remember E&F is not just providing water but pushing out old air and providing fresh air to the roots.
 
W

what the

Member
Japanfreakier said:
No it isn't. Ever heard of an over-flow?



Doesn't seem that way to me at all.
Click to expand...

can you F off troll?

We're discussing a top off for the res on an E&F. WTF does that have to do with overflows?

Sorry but I have never once heard of someone changing their fill heights on a hydroton E&F table throughout the grow. I have seen many DWC growers do this.

Does this make sense for you yet?
 
cocktail frank

cocktail frank

Ubiquitous
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
i personally change the flood heights in E&F.
it's at it's highest when i first transplant into the trays.
as the roots take hold, i lower the height.
 
Japanfreakier

Japanfreakier

Active member
Veteran
what the said:
can you F off troll?

We're discussing a top off for the res on an E&F. WTF does that have to do with overflows?

Sorry but I have never once heard of someone changing their fill heights on a hydroton E&F table throughout the grow. I have seen many DWC growers do this.

Does this make sense for you yet?
Click to expand...

Most Ebb&flow designs have an overflow shit head. Dude you really need to stop giving advice on shit you know nothing about.
 
W

what the

Member
cocktail frank said:
i personally change the flood heights in E&F.
it's at it's highest when i first transplant into the trays.
as the roots take hold, i lower the height.
Click to expand...
huh, that is the first I have heard of that. what medium? And why?

E&F works by pushing air out of the root zone and sucking it back in. Seems like you're not only allowing the top of the root ball to dry out (in hydroton), but not changing the air around the roots as efficiently.
 
W

what the

Member
Japanfreakier said:
lol, no, you are giving piss poor advice yet again.
Click to expand...

can you make sense once or do you just troll constantly.

Yes a timer and a solenoid valve to a float valve. Hmmm sounds more complicated than a float valve.

Can you add something or just be an ass?

Weren't you saying something about overflows? what were you talking about?
 
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